| Crash location | 41.845555°N, 123.984444°W |
| Nearest city | Gasquet, CA
41.845391°N, 123.969520°W 0.8 miles away |
| Tail number | N5262R |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 04 Aug 2006 |
| Aircraft type | Cessna 172M |
| Additional details: | None |
On August 4, 2006, at 1230 Pacific daylight time a Cessna 172M, N5262R, impacted trees and a private residence near Gasquet, California. The private pilot sustained serious injuries, the passenger received minor injuries, and there were no ground injuries. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to the ILWU Flying Club, Inc., North Bend, Oregon, and was operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan had not been filed for the flight, which originated from Crescent City, California, at 1155.
According to the pilot's written statement, he picked up a passenger in Crescent City and flew around the local area before proceeding to Gasquet. Upon arriving at Gasquet, the pilot overflew the airport and observed the windsock indicating calm. He entered downwind for a right traffic pattern for runway 24. The pilot "executed a slip on a wide base to 600 feet" above the ground. He extended 30 degrees of flaps and turned onto final approach. He said that while on final approach the airplane "encountered a wind shear condition which resulted in a 15 mph indicated airspeed loss with an increased rate of descent." The pilot added full power to arrest the rate of descent and recover the loss of airspeed; however, his groundspeed increased to the point where he elected to go around.
The pilot said he attempted to get the airplane to accelerate to the best angle of climb speed and retracted 10 degrees of flaps. The airplane failed to accelerate or climb and impacted the tops of trees off the departure end of the runway near the stall speed. The airplane pitched nose down and impacted a deck of a private residence.
The weather observation facility at the Crescent City Airport, located 11 nautical miles southwest of the accident site, reported the following conditions at 1156: wind from 210 degrees at 6 knots; visibility 10 statute miles; sky clear; temperature 15 degrees Celsius; dew point 12 degrees Celsius; and an altimeter setting of 29.89 inches of mercury.
A witness who was interviewed by a sergeant from the Del Norte County Sheriff's Department, indicated that the wind was blowing from east to west, which was the same direction as the plane was traveling. The witness said the airplane touched down on the runway and skipped. She heard the airplane power up and takeoff again, but the airplane was at least 2/3 of the way down the length of the runway. The witness observed the airplane until she lost site of it behind a tree line.
the pilot's selection of a runway favoring tailwind conditions, his delayed decision to go around, and his failure to attain and maintain an adequate airspeed during the aborted landing. Contributing factors were the tailwind and wind shear conditions encountered on final approach.